Introduction
The oil refinery by Bayway Refinery within the area of Linden in New Jersey has elicited opposition from the locals and the city council. Reflectively, the Linden medical fraternity has estimated that the plant causes more than 20 deaths annually. Besides, the local have issues with environmental pollution from air, water, visibility to noise. Since the refinery will use dirty petroleum fuel to propel its pumps, the local are uncomfortable due to fear of air pollution. Emissions from the refining process contain products from the natural petroleum that are contaminated with synthetic chemicals making the total emissions harmful to the environment.
Effects on the environment
The sanitization of crude oil and processing of natural gas involves use of artificial chemicals and catalysts such as lead, chromium, glycol, amines among others. These synthetic chemicals contaminate the end products and are burnt along with the fuels to produce numerous lethal by-products in gaseous, liquid or solid forms. The emission of such air pollutant that did not exist in nature causes environmental effects than can permanently dent the ecosystem of Linden region (Caroom, 2009).
The problem with the synthetic additives emerges from the fact that they are not compatible with the natural system. Therefore, they are not assimilated with biomasses in a way that would preserve natural order. In most instances, most of the pollutant oil originates from seeps on the ground and broken pipes. Unfortunately, the seepage directly affects human settlements due to the bad smell, clogging of soil, and poisoning plants. The largest source after natural seeps is the land based and storm water runoff. Further, locating the refineries next to residential places has caused a lot of noise from the constantly operating machines. Such pollution causes loads of noise distraction to the human settlement in the region (Caroom, 2009).
Other than global warming, the refinery has exposed the residence of Linden to dreadful health diseases resulting from emanation of poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulphide from the refinery. Contact with these gases may cause diseases such as cancer and diseases relating to respiratory system. These diseases are known to be very costly to treat and may take several years before they get completely done away with in human body. Due to the cost implications of obtaining medication, many people may opt to live with the diseases awaiting death (Caroom, 2009). Basically, the risk level is very high.
Solutions for refining oil within Utah City
Due to the identified environmental problems created by the oil refinery factory in New Jersey, solutions should to be put forward to help mitigate future risks. According to Bina (2007), sustainable living is an essential persistent purpose to achieve at least a better standard of living conditions. Indeed, sustainable living therefore, is expressed as a situation of living in an innate sustainable and appealing facility distinct of ecological, financial, and conscious features (Bina, 2007, p. 592). The Bayway Refinery should adopt modern designs and implementers to sign commitment treatise with the locals on carbon trade so as to minimize air pollution within New Jersey.
Moreover, adaptation of sociological approach in environmental impact assessment recommendations should be inclusive of an environmental committee that would clear the weighty issues surrounding technical and institutional assumptions in the Bayway Refinery. Through this, the stakeholders will reach a compromising but satisfactory decision that will be influenced by participatory decision process, rather than adopting either a protagonist or antagonist stance (Pischke and Cashmore, 2006). After reviewing several decisions and judgment on different cases on oil refinery, sociological treatment would provide the most neutral ground for running the refinery.
References
Bina, O. (2007). A critical review of the dominant lines of argumentation on the need for strategic environmental assessment. Environ. Impact Asses, 27(5), 585–606.
Caroom, E. (2009). Pollution drops statewide, but rises at Linden refinery. Web.
Pischke, F. and Cashmore, M. (2006). Decision-oriented environmental assessment: An empirical study of its theory and methods. Environ. Impact Asses, 26(2), 643– 662.